Church History Tour: Liberty Jail Experience

As we visited Liberty Jail and saw with our eyes and felt so much of what Joseph Smith and the other prisoners went through, I really felt grateful for how he endured that trial and what he learned from it, and how I have grown from this experience as well as my own Liberty Jail trials.

Liberty Jail:  A small jail in which the Prophet Joseph Smith and others were unjustly imprisoned from November 1838 to April 1839. While in these difficult conditions, Joseph received certain revelations, gave prophecies, and was inspired to write an important letter to the Saints, excerpts of which are contained in Doctrine and Covenants 121–123.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave an astoundingly great talk on this very subject called

"Lessons From Liberty Jail"

It is a must read, and I hope you will take the time to study that talk.

"In the Prophet Joseph’s letters, he spoke of the jail being a “hell, surrounded with demons … where we are compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths, and witness a scene of blasphemy, and drunkenness and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of every description.”    “We have … not blankets sufficient to keep us warm; and when we have a fire, we are obliged to have almost a constant smoke,” he said.  “Our souls have been bowed down”   and “my nerve trembles from long confinement,” Joseph wrote.   “Pen, or tongue, or angels,” could not adequately describe “the malice of hell” that he suffered there.    All of this occurred during what, by some accounts, was considered the coldest winter on record in the state of Missouri." (Lessons from Liberty Jail)

The jail walls were 4 feet thick, 2 feet of wood and 2 feet of rock making escape impossible.  This was a horrible, terrible, lonely, and forsaken time in Joseph's life.  It was the hardest experience he had until the martyrdom, 5 years later.

Several of our present and past Church leaders have referred to Liberty Jail and a prison-temple.  Very interesting metaphor don't you think!

"Certainly this prison-temple lacked the purity, beauty, comfort, and cleanliness of our modern temples. The speech and behavior of the guards and criminals who came there were anything but temple-like. In fact, the restricting brutality and injustice of this experience at Liberty would make it seem the very antithesis of the liberating, merciful spirit of our temples and the ordinances performed in them." (Lessons from Liberty Jail)

"So in what sense could Liberty Jail be called a “temple,” and what does such a title tell us about God’s love and teachings, including where and when that love and those teachings are made manifest? In precisely this sense: that you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced" (Lessons from Liberty Jail)

What Truths Strengthen YOU from the Liberty Jail Experience ?

So many truths can be pulled out of this experience that Joseph had specifically. Liberty Jail was a totally refining trial in his life. It was said, that after Liberty, Joseph was a different prophet in that he knew who he was more, he spoke with more power and more confidence and more direction. Trials do that for us. They refine us and make us stronger and better. 

• Revelation was given for everyone! The Liberty Jail time was a refining time for ALL the Saints. and continues to be so even today!  Think about how other's trials also strengthen us!  Reading Doctrine and Covenants 121-123 that was FOR Joseph, was really FOR all of us. This scripture passage strengthens me like no other scripture passage does during hard refining trials.
• Trials of Liberty sustained them in future trials and cemented their faith.
• The Lord has His timing. Although we have to wait for a time period during trials, He has not left us, forgotten about us or forsaken us. Joseph  asked the Lord HOW LONG, and WHERE ART THOU? This time was extremely refining and sanctifying for Joseph.
• Even the worthy will suffer great trials. Trust that the Lord delivers! Things don't always work out the way we think they will. Our righteous desires aren't always fulfilled when we expect them to be. However, the Lord is still guiding us!



Homework assignment:

Elder Holland's talk Lessons from Liberty Jail

Doctrine and Covenants 121–123.



Church History Tour- Eliza and Lorenzo Snow

"When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to Him, He begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it.  When we are ready to come to Him, He is "ready to come to us" (Teachings of the Prophets of the Church: Joseph Smith)

Home of Oliver and Rosetta Snow in Mantua, Ohio where
Lorenzo and Eliza Snow lived from 1815-1838
The original home included the large section to the left door.
You see a dividing line right next to the door. That is where an addition was later added.

"When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to Him, He begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it.  When we are ready to come to Him, He is "ready to come to us" (Teachings of the Prophets of the Church: Joseph Smith)

Some background information on Eliza and Lorenzo

Eliza Roxcy Snow Young -(January 21, 1804-December 5, 1887) is one of the most well-known women of Church History.  She  was a renowned poet writing hundreds of poems, a school teacher, and 2nd Relief Society General President. She is most knows today for her poems, which are found in our Hymn book:

• How Great the Wisdom and the Love
• Invocation, or the Eternal Father and Mother (Oh, My Father)
• Truth Reflects Upon our Senses

Eliza was baptized in 1835 at the age of 30. She moved to Kirtland, Ohio, which was the headquarters of the Church at that time. She worked as a school teacher there. She donated a large sum of money to the building of the Kirtland Temple. To show their appreciation, the building committee provided Eliza with "a very nice lot near the temple with a fruit tree,  a spring running through the property, and  a house that accommodated two families."

She claimed to be a plural wife of Joseph Smith (June 29,  1842). 

From Eliza's diary we read,

"I was sealed to the prophet, Joseph Smith, for time and eternity in accordance with the celestial law of marriage which God had revealed.... This, one of the most important events of my life, I have never had cause to regret."

  

Throughout her life Eliza referred to Joseph as "her first and only love . . . the choice of her heart and the crown of her life." and when Joseph was martyred in 1844 she was so overcome by grief that she could not eat or sleep and even pled with the Lord to allow her to die. It was during this time of grieving that Joseph appeared to her in vision and told her that she must not desire to die. He then explained that her mission on earth was not yet completed and counseled her to be of good cheer and service to those around her. (source)

Eliza was later married to Brigham Young (1844)

Though this marriage was one of convenience and respect, it provided Eliza with security after the death of Joseph. When Eliza arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, Brigham arranged for her to live in a log cabin with Clara Decker, one of his other plural wives. Then, in 1856, he moved Eliza into the Lion House which he had built to house many of his wives and children. Brigham highly respected Eliza's intellect and valued her opinion. She always sat on his right side at the dinner table and during family prayer.

  

Lorenzo Snow (April 14, 1814-October 10, 1901) 5th President of the Church

Lorenzo joined the Church in 1836 at the age of 22. At the time the Prophet Joseph Smith was living in Hiram, Ohio in the John Johnson farm about 4 miles away.

At age 18 Lorenzo attended a meeting at the John Johnson farm. There Joseph Smith spoke to a crowd of about 200 people. He was very moved by this experience, but it was another 4 years before he was baptized. 

 He mentions being "particularly stirred by the counsel of Joseph Smith Senior who said to him 'You will become as great as you can possibly wish-even as great as God, and cannot wish to be greater'" (Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow)

Lorenzo has an extensive history from the time of his conversion, until his death. We are most familiar with his key role as prophet restoring the principle of tithing.  The setting for this revelation was in St. George, Utah.  During a serious drought, the members had fasted and prayed for rain.  Through revelation, President Snow, taught them that if they would pay their tithing, they would have rain.  And they did.  This experience was later made into the church movie,  "The Windows of Heaven".

  The Tour



One of the unexpected surprises of our tour was going inside the childhood home of Lorenzo and Eliza Snow.  It wasn't on our schedule, although I think our tour guides knew it could be a possibility but didn't tell us. It was a great surprise for me.

We were in Mantua, Ohio and our tour bus went down some small country roads until we came to this historic marker which was on the side of the road right in front of the Snow home.

 As we all got out to read the sign and get a quick look of the Snow home, the owners came out.  Though not members of our faith, they invited us in to tour the home.  Keep in mind this is a tour bus load with 50 + people.  Who does that?

For me, this was one of the greatest treats of the tour. 

The home has not passed through the hands of many owners and is very much intact to the original floor plan. The owners also have taken great care of the home and strive to decorate and keep it up as it once was, mixed with  modern day conveniences.  A lot of money had been invested into the home to keep it up and have it reflect that time period.

I was very impressed by the owners. Here they were, not members of our faith, no testimony of our church history, yet they had this deep respect for the Snow family. The home was almost a sanctuary  to honor the Snow family. Very surprising and impressive.

The upstairs in the Snow home. Notice the decor



On the wall in the front living room,
 hangs these pictures of Eliza and Lorenzo Snow

The Snow farm right behind the house.  Can you just visualize this
in the time period of Eliza and Lorenzo?

"O, My Father"

Before leaving all 50 of us gathered on the driveway in front of the house and sang, "O My Father" There was a Mormon Tabernacle Choir member amongst our group, so hopefully it sounded okay.

O my Father, thou that dwellest
In the high and glorious place,
When shall I regain thy presence
And again behold thy face?
In thy holy habitation,
Did my spirit once reside?
In my first primeval childhood
Was I nurtured near thy side?

For a wise and glorious purpose
Thou hast placed me here on earth
And withheld the recollection
Of my former friends and birth;
Yet ofttimes a secret something
Whispered, "You're a stranger here,"
And I felt that I had wandered
From a more exalted sphere.

I had learned to call thee Father,
Thru thy Spirit from on high,
But, until the key of knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heav'ns are parents single?
No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth is reason; truth eternal
Tells me I've a mother there.
When I leave this frail existence,
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal courts on high?
Then, at length, when I've completed
All you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation
Let me come and dwell with you.

("O, My Father," by Eliza R. Snow)

Eliza Snow wrote the lyrics just after her own father's death and a year after Joseph's.
The "key of knowledge"  is the fulness of the gospel restored to the earth.

This hymn teaches that: God is literally the Father of our spirits, and that we are literally His children. It is also the only hymn that talks about having a Mother in heaven.

Joseph Smith taught that God “looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard” and that “if men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 39, 40). (See New Era, Joseph Smith's Key of Knowledge)

Having this knowledge changes everything.  We know how to approach God in prayer. We know we can. We know He lives. We know He is there. We know He cares, and that He hears and answers prayers.  We know we are His children, He knows us by name, He knows the very details of our lives, and we know that He loves us deeply.

This is from that "key of knowledge" restored to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

I am grateful for what Joseph taught and for the knowledge and testimony I have of this gospel of our Heavenly Father.

It is true!


Church History Tour-Angel Moroni Comes and Joseph Recieves the Plates

For those following my Church History Series, these are posts about a North Eastern Church History Tour my husband and I went on this past summer.  It was a dream vacation for me that was testimony building to say the least and life changing in many ways. 

I am sharing with all of you my pictures, some thoughts, and information from many of these sites.  This is mainly for my mother.  We share this love for the gospel  and scriptural insights.  It would have been so much fun to take her along with us.  She would have loved every second of it.

I am constantly updating my Church History posts with pictures and information. So keep checking back to see the changes.  This gospel is so true!!

Previous Posts from this Series:

Who Were Joseph Smith's Ancestors

Religion Prior to the First Vision

Joseph Smith Sr. Father of the Prophet

The Birthplace of Joseph Smith

Alvin Smith: the Ideal Son and Older Brother

Re-visiting the First Vision

Joseph and Emma

At the age of 14, Joseph Smith had what is called the First Vision. For the next 3 years he did not have any visitations, and life continued on, although everything from normal. 

JS-H 1:22 I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great ^apersecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an ^bobscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me.

On the evening of September 21, 1823 Joseph went to bed with his brothers in these upstairs bedrooms.

The staircase right off the kitchen leading the the Smith children's bedrooms

The front bedroom is the boys room, the back bedroom is the girls

Joseph shared a bed with his brother as well as a whole room with the other boys

Sometimes I think we have this visual in our mind, due to pictures from artists, that Joseph had his own room when Angel Moroni visited.  To me, it makes the story even that more amazing to know that no one else saw, heard, or even knew about Joseph's all-nighter with Angel Moroni.

As Joseph knelt down to say his prayers, no doubt the others were asleep in their beds, he felt weighed down with  his weaknesses sins of "levity" and asked for forgiveness and his standing before God. He says, he had  "full confidence in recieving a divine manifestation as he had previously done"

Distraction: I have an older brother who for years,  was actually scared an angel would appear in his bedroom.  His brothers used to love [and still do]to tease him about that. 

In answer to Joseph's prayer, Angel Moroni appeared in his bedroom with a very important message

see Joseph Smith -History 1:27-54 and my previous post [towards the end]

Alvin the Ideal Son and Older Brother

On September 22, 1823, after telling his father about the message and visit of Angel Moroni, Joseph went to a hill near his home, that came to be known as Hill Cumorah.  Here an ancient record of the inhabitants of the American continent was saved, preserved, and hidden in the hill . This record, written in reformed Egyptian, contained the fullness of the gospel and Joseph would translate it through sacred instruments provided him.  The time for that translation would be in the future.   Joseph saw the place in his vision, and recognized it immediately when he came to it.

He did not receive the record immediately, although he handled it and saw it.  He was told to come to the exact spot every year for four years on the exact same day.  During these early visits, Joseph was taught immensely about these people.  He would go home, and the family would all gather around as Joseph would tell of his experiences.  His mother shares that Joseph spoke with such ease of these ancient people: their dress, mode of travel, buildings, animals they rode upon, etc. as if he had spent his  entire life among them.

Receiving the plates was emotionally agonizing for Joseph and his entire family.  They knew the importance of it, and wanted more than anything for Joseph to be worthy and seen as worthy to the Lord to receive them. They had moments when they were very worried if Joseph would be able to pull  it off.

On one of Joseph's early visits, the plates were in a box and he set them down behind him. When he turned around the box and plates were completely gone.  He panicked, not knowing where the plates were. He prayed and asked the Lord what happened to the plates.  Angel Moroni came and reminded him of the early instruction to not let the plates out of his sight for even a second.  It was a hard lesson and Joseph went home "weeping"  His father, fully expecting Joseph to bring the plates home, and not understanding the whole situation, told Joseph, "If I were you, I would have just taken them"  Joseph said, "Father you don't know what you speak of, the angel wouldn't let me have them."

Another time, he reached in to take the plates, and was thrown "violently onto his back"  Receiving the plates was a heart-wrenching experience, that Joseph was very inexperienced in what was expected of him. But  he was taught every step along the way, and many times with very hard lessons.

September 22, 1827 the night that Joseph received the plates from Angel Moroni, Heber C. Kimball in another part of the country-Mendon, Ohio, saw a great vision.  There is no coincidence of timing involved here. 

"Sept. 22, 1827, while living in the town of Mendon, I having retired to bed, John P. Greene, a traveling reformed Methodist preacher, waked me up calling upon me to behold the scenery in the heavens.

I called my wife and sister Fanny Young (sister of Brigham Young) who was living with me; it was so clear that you could see to pick up a pin, we looked to the eastern horizon and beheld a white smoke arise towards the heavens, and as it ascended it formed itself into a belt and made a noise like the rustling of a mighty wind, and continued southwest, forming a regular bow dipping in the western horizon.

After the bow had formed it began to widen out and grow clear and transparent of a bluish cast, it grew wide enough to contain twelve men abreast.

In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching to the west. They moved in platoons, and walked so close, the rear ranks trod in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally crowded with soldiers.

We could see distinctly the muskets, bayonets, and knapsacks of the men, who wore caps and feathers like those used by the American soldiers in the last war with Britain; also their officers with their swords and equipage, and heard the clashing and jingling of their instruments of war and could discover the form and features of the men. The most profound order existed throughout the entire army, when the foremost man stepped, every man stepped at the same time: I could hear the step.

When the front rank reached the Western horizon a battle ensued, as we could distinctly hear the report of the arms and the rush.

No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men, as plainly as I ever saw armies of men in the flesh it seemed as though every hair of my head was alive. This scenery was gazed upon for hours, until it began to disappear.

Subsequently I learned this took place the same evening that Joseph Smith received the records of the Book of Mormon from the Angel Moroni."

Joseph received the plates and during the years of translation,  Joseph had to go to GREAT lengths to keep the record safe.  During this time, he and Emma were living in the frame home in Palmyra with Joseph's parents and family.  This large barn is directly across the road from the frame home.

In the barn loft

Between Lucy and Katherine asleep in bed

In the box

In a barrel of beans, Joseph's father was a wet cooper and made barrels.
This photo is actually inside the Newell K. Whitney store in Kirtland

Underneath the hearth bricks

Of coarse, Joseph was able to keep the record safe until he finished translating.  After which, Angel Moroni came and took them. 

If this post wasn't long enough for you, and you want to read more, see my post The Bible and the Book of Mormon are Both Good Fruits

I can't explain to you how incredible it was to walk where Joseph walked, and to see first hand the very places where sacred events happened in our Church History.  I know now more than ever before it is true.  Joseph was a Prophet of God.  Jesus Christ lives and directs this work. This is His Church on the earth. 

Church History Tour- Joseph and Emma

From the movie : Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration

Joseph and Emma first met in November of 1825.  Joseph was almost 21 and Emma had turned 21 in July of that year. I don't have anything super exciting to say about their engagement and marriage except that being a natural romantic,  I love their story!

So when we went to the house where they spent the first few weeks of their marriage, my ears and eyes perked up a bit.

After Joseph tried unsuccessfully to get Isaac Hale to give him his blessings in marrying his daughter. He decided to marry Emma anyway.  She was "the choice of his heart".  He loved her, and knew she was the one the Lord had prepared to be his wife, and to be of comfort and support to him in his very important call as the Prophet of the Restoration.  I am sure he hoped the support from his father-in-law would come later. 

Plaque outside the home

Bronze statue of Joseph in the Josiah Stowell yard

The home of Josiah Stowell

It was thrilling to be inside this home where the tour guides described some of the simple tasks that Joseph did prior to his marriage, such as ironing his own shirt.  It was romantic feeling to be in this home, and I could feel they were once there.  There were three bedrooms upstairs and we all walked through and tried to guess which bedroom was Joseph and Emma's.  We all guessed and were about 1/2 right.  I love the story of their marriage.

And now with Emma, Joseph was able to begin one of the greatest purposes of his for-ordination as prophet:  the receiving and translation of the golden plates, otherwise known as  The Book of Mormon.  Emma was key.



Church History Tour- Joseph and Emma's Harmony, Pennsylvania

lds.org

One of the most memorable sites on our tour was Harmony, Pennsylvania.  I know I have said many times how I could feel the spirit of each of these sacred sites, and it is true.  You could feel it in Harmony! 

First off Pennsylvania is beautiful. My husband and I kept telling each other  "We could live here". It is so green and lush and cozy.  We loved it in Harmony.

The morning we were there it was kind of misty with drizzling rain.  We parked the bus and walked back into this hidden grove.  In the grove, there were log seats to sit on in a circle encompassing all the walls of the grove. I could of just sat there...feeling....  Our tour guides mentioned that this is where the Stakes of that area, celebrate the Aaronic Priesthood Commemoration, otherwise known as Father-and-sons camp out.  I have never had a desire to go to a Father-and-sons camp out, until that misty morning sitting in the grove at Harmony. 

The Susquehanna River flowed not too far from that very spot where we sat. We didn't actually see it.
In fact, the actual location where Joseph and Oliver were baptized has since dried up.  But we were in the location where John the Baptist as well as Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph.  You could feel it.  It is a sacred spot. 

I did not take any pictures inside this grove of trees. I now wished I would have. I didn't want the camera to get wet, and I didn't know how much this site would mean to me later.  It was a special place.

The Church is in the process of restoring Harmony

...much like they restored Joseph Smith's birthplace and Kirtland and Nauvoo. 

See the official announcement [here]

Site of the Isaac and Elizebeth home

Not too far from the site of  where Joseph and Emma's home will be restored,
 and where the priesthood was restored, is a cemetery. 
Here is the sweet gravestone of Joseph and Emma's first born son, Alvin, who lived only a few hours.

Three major events happened in Harmony

 

1. Joseph and Emma meet in November of 1825, and were married January 18th, 1827 in South Bainbridge.
2. The Translation of The Book of Mormon
3. The Restoration of the Priesthood

___________________________________________________________________________________

Previous Posts in the Church History Series :

Who Were Joseph Smith's Ancestors

Religion Prior to the First Vision

Joseph Smith Sr. Father of the Prophet

The Birthplace of Joseph Smith

Alvin Smith: the Ideal Son and Older Brother

            Re-visiting the First Vision



Church History Tour- Re-Visiting the First Vision

The Lord's Hand of Providence was over the Joseph and Lucy Smith family. They had devastating losses moving 9 times in 20 years of marriage. Although they didn't know it at the time, each trial had a high "providence"purpose. Each one putting them in the right place, at the right time in history to bring about, what they all wanted, what the world needed, and what God had in store:

The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith and their family moved to Manchester County New York,where they eventually purchased 100 acres of land.They lived down town in Palmyra for a while before moving to their land where they built 2 different houses here: the log home, and the frame home.

During the early 1800's religion was a hot topic in Palmyra and also in the whole region and district as Joseph wrote in his history. I would also add, that it was a hot topic in the Joseph and Lucy Smith home.

Lucy and several of the children joined the Presbyterian church and were baptized. Joseph Sr., Alvin, and Joseph Jr. did not. They were waiting to know or to find God's true church. They received a lot of pressure from the religious community for their un-baptized condition. To not be a part of a religion, and joining that faith with baptism was seen as "worldly". While being "worldly" isn't looked down in today' society by many...in Joseph's era, that was a serious judgement.

The Joseph Smith Story

excerpts from Joseph Smith-History

 ^aI was born in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and five, on the twenty-third day of December, in the town of Sharon, Windsor county, State of Vermont … My father, ^bJoseph Smith, Sen., left the State of Vermont, and moved to Palmyra, Ontario (now Wayne) county, in the State of New York, when I was in my tenth year, or thereabouts. In about four years after my father’s arrival in Palmyra, he moved with his family into Manchester in the same county of Ontario—

Joseph Smith's log home

The family kitchen in the log home.

 Some time in the second year after our removal to Manchester, there was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on the subject of religion. It commenced with the Methodists, but soon became general among all the sects in that region of country. Indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying, ^a“Lo, here!” and others, “Lo, there!” Some were contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the Baptist.

Palmyra is the only place in the US with 4 major churches on each corner of the main intersection
Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist

 For, notwithstanding the great ^alove which the converts to these different faiths expressed at the time of their conversion, and the great zeal manifested by the respective clergy, who were active in getting up and promoting this extraordinary scene of religious feeling, in order to have everybody converted, as they were pleased to call it, let them join what sect they pleased; yet when the converts began to file off, some to one party and some to another, it was seen that the seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts were more ^bpretended than real; for a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued—priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions.

lds.org

I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father’s family was proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined that church, namely, my mother, Lucy; my brothers Hyrum and Samuel Harrison; and my sister Sophronia.

 During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and ^astrife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was ^bright and who was wrong.

My mind at times was greatly excited, the cry and tumult were so great and incessant. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all others

10 In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be ^aright, which is it, and how shall I know it?

An 1820 era Bible.
Joseph read James 1:5 from a Bible like this.

 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of ^aJames, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

 Never did any passage of ^ascripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did;

 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkenss and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

A Witness Tree
-trees that are large enough to have been witnesses to the First Vision

14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.

15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm,

I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me

I saw two Personages whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son Hear Him!

 

 My object in going to ^ainquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.

 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all ^awrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those ^bprofessors were all ^ccorrupt; that: “they ^ddraw near to me with their lips, but their ^ehearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the ^fcommandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the ^gpower thereof.”

 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself ^alying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home.

 

What does the First Vision show us?

here's a few I came up with



• The scriptures can help us solve our problems
• God answers prayers

• The power of Satan is a real power 

• The heavens are  now open
• God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ have bodies and are two separate personages
• The Lord knows us by name
• The power of God is stronger than the power of Satan
• The true gospel of Jesus Christ in it's complete fullness was not on the earth at that time, but has since been restored through Joseph Smith the Prophet

What else happened in the grove that morning?  Did other angels visit on that epic morning? How long were they there?  What else did Joseph learn or see? 

As a prophet, as young as he was, he was shown a lot!  Like Moses, Abraham, and Nephi, he was possibly shown aleverything. Not sure, but it is a thought!

He tells us in his history that he cannot tell us everything that happened.

 "...many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time."

 When he got home, he was reflecting by the fireplace, when his mother asked  him if something was wrong. He did not share with his mother at this time about his vision.  He said, "I am well enough off...I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true" [kind of an all encompassing answer]

My husband pretending to be Joseph in the classis line
"I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true"

My own testimony:

This would not be complete with out my personal testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. 

I wish that I could have lived at that time to have personally known, seen, and been acquianted with Joseph.  I know that he saw what he said he saw in the Sacred Grove.  To have made up this story and then endured a life-time of severe persecutions for himself and everyone that he was associated with, would have be impossible. At some point, enough would have been enough, if it was false. No one would have sacrificed that much or given up everything, unless it was true and from God.

 It is true!  Like Moses, Abraham, Adam, Noah, and other ancient prophets, he was a prophet, called during this dispensation to bring back what was lost: the gospel of Jesus Christ in it's fullness, with the proper authority of the priesthood, prophets, and apostles.

In Joseph's own words:

" I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsley for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation." [Joseph Smith-History 1:25]

If anyone questions this...I would tell you to do as Joseph did,

Ask of God

Previous Posts in the Church History Series :

Who Were Joseph Smith's Ancestors

Religion Prior to the First Vision

Joseph Smith Sr. Father of the Prophet

The Birthplace of Joseph Smith

Alvin Smith: the Ideal Son and Older Brother